1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to development tools for computer software. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for modifying a platform-independent programming language build tool.
2. Related Art
As applications and programming languages are becoming more complex, programmers are increasingly using “build tools” to help develop and maintain their applications. Build tools help programmers manage files and classes, as well as simplifying many of the tasks programmers perform while developing applications.
However, build tools are not without their limitations. Build tools often provide tasks and commands that cover basic programming language functions; however, they typically do not provide easy access to language extensions or third-party functions that may be required for specific applications. Often when a programmer needs to utilize a function from a third party, or a function that is not common for the majority of developers, the programmer uses a generic build tool task and manually specifies all of the necessary information for the function in question. If an application uses these functions extensively, using a generic build tool can be almost as time-consuming and complex as not using a build tool.
Hence, what is needed is a method for increasing the versatility of a build tool without the problems listed above.